Scientific realism

what it is, the contemporary debate, and new directions

Darrell P. Rowbottom

pp. 451-484

in: Darrell P. Rowbottom, Jamin Asay (eds), Scientific realism, Synthese 196 (2), 2019.

Abstract

First, I answer the controversial question ’What is scientific realism?’ with extensive reference to the varied accounts of the position in the literature. Second, I provide an overview of the key developments in the debate concerning scientific realism over the past decade. Third, I provide a summary of the other contributions to this special issue.